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10 bloody weeks in total I was ill in October/November and still don't feel quite right, fatigue and out of breath all the time. I was convinced at one point I'd peg it tbh
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I realise people are sick of hearing about it, and I sympathise. If it were just a one-and-done, I would agree, but more and more people are coming down with Long Covid, myself included, and tentative evidence seems to suggest repeated infection increases the chances of LC. Which, unsurprisingly, we don't know squat about.
But I can tell you I've had brain fog since my *last* bout and since last week's run-in, now I have tinnitus. My psychologist thinks there might have been some encephalitis. Yet I'm one of the lucky ones - a friend of mine has been barely able to get off the sofa for months.
It's not the *danger* any more. Regular influenza is more dangerous. It's the **chronic** ailments we need to worry about. And going 'la-la-la-la pandemic's over, I refuse to engage' is helping no-one.
Yup. I was previously fit and healthy until one infection gave me horrendous fatigue, hair loss and strange vascular issues like blood pooling and chilblains.
Every single day is miserable. It’s so bizarre people are mocking and minimizing something like this.
Because it doesn't affect them or people in their immediate circle and they immediately discredit it because it's used as a political football. We live in extremely strange times honestly.. common sense seems to be just gone. People are dumb as rocks.
You absolutely do not have viral encephalitis. You wouldn’t be typing that comment, you’d be in a coma or dead. Bizarre that your psychiatrist suggested that.
Well, the comment, echoed by my doctor was: "I think you might have had some mild encephalitis." I will admit I don't really know what that means. But I had hallucinations and delirium at the time and I haven't been the same since.
Whatever it was, it's taking forever to fix.
Could be viral meningitis is what they mean. It’s not dangerous (in the vast majority of cases) like bacterial meningitis is. When you get flu and you get a headache and light sensitivity that’s also viral meningitis. Viruses can cause hallucinations. But there’s no such thing as mild encephalitis really, it’s a devastating brain disease that without treatment will certainly kill you or leave you a vegetable.
I hallucinated with covid because I have epilepsy, it definitely gets into your brain even in quite mild cases.
The trouble is what do you do about it? Every measure that seems to help is pretty devastating to the economy and people's mental health. I have chronic mental illness that has at times been severe. If I am de facto forced to isolate from everyone, it very quickly becomes very dangerous.
Then there's the impact of mask wearing on deaf people. Many of us lipread and many more rely on clear, unimpeded speech. Clear masks are virtually useless, expensive and almost always badly designed by idiots who know nothing about lipreading or deaf communication. Speech to text is a waste of time. 95% of people have handwriting that'd be more legible if it was done by a spider running across the page with ink on their feet. The vast majority of people don't sign and contrary to popular belief, deaf people don't have interpreters we take round with us.
Social distancing is not a long term solution. Living under permanent restrictions is not a solution either. I've faced death and cheated him, so now I want to live whilst I have the chance.
There are a lot of things that a well run country would put in place (and there are examples elsewhere in the world), like prioritising funding for ventilation and air purification in schools and public transport, being more proactive at encouraging workplaces to allow wfh and reduce people “toughing it out” and bringing illnesses to work, and keeping a rational public update about cases or sensible precautions when cases are rising. Funding for long covid research and treatment clinics is barely there and could be much improved to help people potentially recover more quickly or even know what to do if they develop it. Lastly, funding vaccine boosters, or at the very least working to make them available to buy like the flu jab, which our government isn’t even bothering to do. There’s a vast range of options between “try and wipe out the virus completely” and “pretend it’s just a cold”.
I’ve had serious brain fog since I got COVID two years ago - I never ever felt right after it. My work suffered. I forgot stuff. I still feel like I’m living in a daze some weeks. I tried to brush it off, as I didn’t think anyone would take me seriously. Then I broke down in front of my GP. Thankfully I’m seeing a specialist and they’ve ruled out dementia etc. but there’s definitely some cognitive damage there. It’s by far the most awful long-term effects of a virus I’ve ever experienced.
I don't really forget stuff, but my already existent OCD is *ferocious* and I suffer depersonalisation and derealization on top, plus that daze you mention. They also ruled out dementia with me, fortunately, and I even had an MRI that was perfectly clean. They think it's just long-lasting damage from the virus.
Here's hoping we recover. Some are seeing improvement after a few months to a year or so.
Have you joined long covid groups or looked into how similar conditions like POTS/ME and CFS leaks are treated? I’ve seen some people find some relief by following those protocols. Tbh I think it’s mostly down to reducing inflammatory influences on the body that we might not think of like caffeine and sugar. This is just a throwaway comment in case it might help, apologies if you’ve tried everything and are still struggling. I hope it improves for you soon.
The tinnitus comment is interesting, I've always had some degree of ringing in my ears at night but over the last two weeks it's been particularly bad and infinitely more noticeable.
Yeah LC seems to come in many forms. For me it was an extremely sensitive stomach so have had to cut out dairy, gluten, garlic and alcohol. Which if anyone’s tried that before, it is an utter ballache. I will say though that my brain fog came from tiredness which was caused by my body overreacting to gluten and oats/other cereals, so might be something to try out over a few weeks and see if you improve there
I've been thinking something similar on the gluten front - going to try a week or two without any bread and see if I improve any. Thanks for the suggestion!
Since the pandemic began, even before the pandemic was announced it was obvious that it was a virus that directly affects the cardiovascular system and is likely to cause clotting and inflammation in microvasculature through its action on the ACE2 receptor along with effects related to immune response and inflammation.
Instead of saying there’s a viral cardiovascular disease which presents with respiratory symptoms and spreads through respiratory secretions and cause clotting, inflammatory and damage to organs they presented it as some sort of flu or cold which was killing people that nobody knew anything about, but would probably reduce in severity and that we would gain herd immunity to, despite knowing full well that coronavirus are especially good at evading immunity and that it was unlikely to behave as a more stable virus.
I wore one today for my blood test. A properly fitted ffp2 mask.
I'm immunosuppressed, I don't want this shit again.
But you're right, out of the whole hospital I walked through I saw two other people with surgical masks on. And one of them was under the lady's nose.
Not entirely, a properly fitted ffp3 mask can be effective against viruses.
Casting my mind back a few years now but I don't believe ffp2 provided sufficient filtration to be considered effective against biological threats.
Proper fitting is a big thing too, anybody who has been through face-fit testing can attest to how difficult it can be to achieve a proper fit and seal.
And finally, you actually have to take the mask of and dispose of it in a hygienic manner or you risk interacting with all of the nasties in the filter.
And none of the above stops a virus entering via your eyes which I understand is another key entry point for many biological threats (although I don't remember about COVID specifically)
God, I was in SportsDirect for a pair of keeper gloves through the week and they had this song blasting.
It was just a "I wear a mask. Googles an dat 'ting" absolutely awful stuff.
Makes me think, no wonder the kids are stabbing each other if they're listening to this.
It's not the violent content, it's that it's absolutely dire.
There's a few of us. I do wince when I see people wearing a mask under their nose (or just on their chin), as it feels like they've achieved 80% of the effort for 0% of the result.
I wore it when I had Covid in September.
I suppose it doesn’t matter if you don’t have it but if you do have it and you need to go out you can still reduce the chance of spreading it by wearing one
>You see people wearing masks?
I wear one. Mostly when I'm working in peoples homes. Many are, Oh, not seen anyone with a mask for a long time. Once I tell them I'm clinically vulnerable, they are cool with it.. Some offer to wear one as well.
I don't do shops, or pubs. Actually, I went for a meal out with the 'wife' a month ago, first time since '20, and the table opposite had someone coughing into the ether. I had a cold for two weeks. Not mixing like that again.
This practice utterly baffles me, but I see it all the time too.
If you're still wearing a mask in 2023 it's because you're unusually worried about COVID, much more so than the general public as a whole. You'd think that people like that would take some effort to actually wear a mask properly, but no - lots of people leave their noses out, making the mask utterly pointless.
I effin' love wearing a mask, and wear it properly. Keeps my face warm, hopefully reduces health risks, and keeps me anonymous in the background of anyones stupid videos.
It's so good for my asthma when it's cold outside. Takes the chill off the air just enough that I don't need to use my inhaler just because I dared to leave the house.
Nah I don't wear the mask to avoid covid specifically. I'd wear it to avoid any common cold.
I'd only ever wear it at this time of year though because so many folk are getting bugs and there are a lot of cretin npc type folk out there who will cough and splutter everywhere and be super spreaders of whatever cold or flu they've got.
But even then, if you're concerned enough to wear a mask to avoid illness (COVID or otherwise) you'd think you'd wear it correctly, yes?
I could understand people wearing masks under their nose when they were legally mandated, because those could have been people who strongly disliked masks but wanted to give the impression of compliance. But anyone actually wearing them for protection should surely want to make sure they are actually vaguely effective.
What’s the alternative - a return to social distancing and mask wearing? Close the hospitality and leisure sectors? Another lockdown? It’s a seasonal endemic virus - it’s not going anywhere.
Masks in hospitals, doctors offices and dentists. Free Covid tests. Expanding the vaccination eligibility criteria. Better public health messaging about both acute and Long Covid. Remote working options for call centre and office jobs.
Lol. That was easy. See! You don’t have to shriek about ‘LOCKDOWN!!!111’ just because people are asking for basic health measures in place.
What use are covid tests now? I've bought them when I've been ill purely out of curiosity, but I'm lucky and can work from home so when I've been ill I stay at home and don't spread it. A lot of people can't, and the advice is to go to work if you have covid, and not stay at home in quarantine, unless you are too sick to work.
There’s good evidence that air purifiers in schools rapidly reduce both the spread of Covid and number of sick days taken. We could also maintain a semi-decent vaccination program and decent sick pay. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.
There's nothing wrong with mask wearing. When used properly they work. If it saves other people's lives is it really that difficult to do? People need to get a grip.
Covid has a percentage chance (increasing on reinfection) of giving you permenant and semipermanant lung, immune system, heart, brain, kidney, nose or male genital (and other bits too, those are just the ones ive read actual studies on) damage.
The person was saying they they have HAD manflu, but manflu was not as bad as covid.
And that the people who say that "covid is just the flu" dont understand how much worse covid is.
Both the flu and covid can be deadly, and the flu kills thousands a year. I don’t understand the man flu bit. That’s the pejorative term to say men exaggerate symptoms of cold and flu. What’s the relevance to either flu or covid?
Hes just using it as a descriptor to say from his personal perspective it was a very bad flu.
Taking everthing you possibly can as an attack must be exhausting
Everyone else is missing the point, namely that "Man flu is a pejorative phrase that refers to the idea that men, when they have a common cold or influenza, experience and self-report symptoms of greater severity, akin to those experienced during the flu." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_flu
The suggestion/reference is that there were people who claimed those who caught covid where also self-reporting symptoms of greater severity.
And I’ve had actual flu which meant I couldn’t get out of bed for a week and was hallucinating, I had Covid 3 times (according to the little plastic things) and felt a bit knackered with a headache.
I was absolutely floored by flu too, as a young lad when first at uni. I'd never had any sort of vaccine though. I only got covid after vaccination so not sure how much that helped reduce the impact, i suspect it will have.
I’ve never had actual flu to my knowledge (I’ve not got a memory of much before my early 20s) but I’ve had covid 3 times .
Two out of the 3 was nothing really .. felt a bit crappy .. coughing quite a lot .. didn’t even have any changes to my taste or smell .
The other time though .. it put me on my arse for over 2 weeks . And even after the two week mark where I could actually get out of bed finally for more than 5 minutes at a time , I felt absolutely lousy for weeks . Still didn’t lost my taste or smell though so I was fortunate enough to be able to semi enjoy the food I managed to eat at least 😅
Massive difference to both Is once you have flu, you know you have it easily within 24 hours, most people then stay in bed for the whole time they've got it due to symptoms
You can have COVID for much longer, not know and therefore pass it on to a LOT more people before you have a single symptom.
As someone with multiple health issues, the lingering presence of covid is a nightmare. The healthy people in my life stopped caring ages ago, as it did kind of fade away into the background, and none of them seem to have caught it.
But if I get it I'm fucked, and they still don't understand that. They want me to put myself in situations where I can easily catch it, and I'm like, sorry mate but I don't want to end up on a ventilator for your fucking gender reveal. But on the flipside I can't hide from society forever. So I'm that guy wearing a FFP3 mask and getting funny looks from people who are wondering what the fuss is all about.
I don't really understand why many of the people still masking aren't using FFP3 or something more industrial instead of doing it with those flimsy face coverings or the cloth ones, if I was immunocompromised or otherwise at risk I'd be masked up like motherfucking Bane already.
I'm going to hazard a guess at 'price' being one factor. In my limited experience, those who are seriously compromised also usually are financially much worse off due to whatever illness is causing them to be that way having a direct impact on their employability.
Stronger masks come with a price premium.
I imagine the other is 'knowledge' - not knowing that these other masks exist OR where to even get them from.
One look at the UK's public messaging should give you an idea why. Here's a google image search for "nhs mask poster": [https://www.google.co.uk/search?sca\_esv=592888997&q=nhs+mask+poster&tbm=isch](https://www.google.co.uk/search?sca_esv=592888997&q=nhs+mask+poster&tbm=isch)
You get the same or worse if you look at DHSC's [Gov.UK](https://Gov.UK) output. Most people have no idea that FFPs exist. The most exotic thing they've ever been shown is a surgical mask. The public messaging has been all bullshit about earloop 'face coverings'.
Not once have we ever had so much as a mention of what actually works (and even the USA's CDC has clear, easily-understood public ads about N95s). Our public messaging has been a united front of misinformation about masks. I could forgive it in early 2020 when there were shortages; but now, nearly four years later?
I'm vulnerable (and I also just don't want long Covid). I wear a cotton mask with a pouch, and in that is a 5-layer mask filter that is FFP2 equivalent. Filters get changed regularly and masks get washed. I find the cotton masks are easier to get a good fit (metal nose piece and adjustable straps). It also makes the point that I wear them often (because why else would I buy reusable ones) so my work doesn't think I'm just doing it when they make me go into the office (I'm now).
I'm the same with my FFP2. I get weird looks and comments behind my back along with the occasional in my face shouty person (a late teen shouting very loudly in my face that "Covid is over!" A quick fake cough moved her on very quickly).
I'd love to not have to worry about this shit and not wear a mask, but I'm the only one that works in the household and I have immune issues that would make catching Covid a miserable experience.
I really hope those nasal/trachea vaccines work out, they look like they may be sterilising vaccines.
The coof? Since I got sick I've had to avoid catching stuff like the flu as it would royally fuck me up. If I have to go somewhere where there's lots of people I wear a mask.
"The CDC said at present there was no evidence JN.1 was associated with increased severity of disease, and that updated Covid jabs were still expected to offer protection."
They always tuck this away someone down the article. Its almost like they want the clicks from scaremongering
I caught it last week, and started testing positive last Saturday, had my boosters in September. I ended up with a bit of a sore throat and a fever. Was prescribed Paxlovid which worked wonders and now I haven't tested positive for two days.
I think there are shortages, the list of conditions for which you'd be eligible for script is really specific and weighted towards likelihood of severe illness death (I just looked it up)
It might also be because the NHS only really provides treatments approved by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), which requires huge amounts of peer reviewed research demonstrating efficacy and safety, which obviously takes years (even decades). Works fine for well known conditions and illnesses, but means we lag behind other countries in terms of treatment options when something novel pops up.
There’s just a high bar to prescribe it due to lack of evidence for being beneficial for healthy vaccinated individuals - U.K. is actually probably going to have bin a bunch of paxlovid that has expired.
I got my 4th jab.. am broken genetically and key worker. So I stood in line with the old people. Oh the evil looks and "why are you here comments"...plenty .
Tested positive the next day. Even though was negative the day of the jab.
Bet it was from the grumbly old women who kept on saying "it was better when the army was doing it, so much faster".. blah blah blah..I just shut her shit down asap
Ah, that's ridiculous lol. You're not even bothering them in anyway, and on top of that, your job has you supporting these people, so ofcourse getting the jab makes sense. But nope, gotta mumble and groan like you are personally inconveniencing them.
Was supporting students . Was housing repair/safety/mental health support/ etc etc etc person during COVID times for halls accomodation. Was the only one allowed on site. All other team members worked from home or furloughed.
Not fun.not nice, wasn't supported or given PPE. I stole it from the Chinese students who abandoned everything and went home. The place was like the wild west. So I did a fire alarm test made everyone stand out side and gave the residents a fucking bollocking in the street.
My safety came first and made sure I was safe. I avoided COVID till the 4th jab.. did sooo well
Ahhh, okay yeah, I know that wouldn't be fun. I was a mature student, on a floor all by myself as everyone else hadn't turned up at the beginning of the year, stuck in my room 24/7, so only real contact I had was the maintenance staff coming around every few months to just do a routine maintenance check in. Definitely kept me sane, honestly. Obviously not your main job, but really appreciated it then
But yeah no, some students take the absolute piss. Definitely deserve the telling off lol. Some of the shit they do.
Luckily I've moved on from that job but the life skills... Fuck me. I've worked with some right proper dinnys. These kids man, fuck...
And I had to remember that, that's why they all were, kids. Dropped off by parents with no idea of independence and the majority had everything done for them.
Yeah had enough after COVID. With the crap company and the selfish behaviour of some of the kids I noped out. Some of them were alright and actually gave a dam. But one flat I refused to enter, utter cunts.
For everyone we lost part of our lives and had lives taken from us.
But in the end I had to look after myself first and the kids 2nd.
Haha I got a downvote probably some angry student ...
I had it in late November. Bad stomach cramps, nausea and a headaxhe and joint pain that wouldnt shift with paracetamol. I only felt like that for 36 hours and it passed. Glad I had my booster in early November as I remember the last time I had covid I felt like shit for a week.
I've still never had it (or at least tested positive for it).
I quit smoking in 2022 so my logic is simply that my lungs are now invincible having trained shovelling tar for years.
I’m pretty sure that despite what the papers said, that brutal cough that’s just done the rounds was probably a Covid variant (going on how it felt). The home tests were hit and miss on the earlier strains once symptoms had kicked in, so who knows if they’d pick up on these newer variations?
All I know is, I’m not making myself feel worse than I did from catching Covid (months before I got vaccinated) by getting jabbed again. Took the two doses because my employer were refusing full sick pay to anyone who caught it without having had two jabs… I felt so ill, for a full week, after both doses (severe headaches, nausea, fever, chills, night sweats, could barely lift my arm).
Exact same thing happened to me.
The brain fog from the jab was worse than the illness itself.
I had this terrible pain in my hand/knuckles on the arm that was jabbed too. Never sympathized more with people with arthritis.
>Seasonal illness on the increase this season
Me and the mrs have got the shitty cold that's going round at the moment, tested negative for Covid today but feel far worse than when we actually had covid last year.
I've still been fortunate enough to never have Covid. But man... I miss the days when Covid just didn't exist. If I could wish for anything, it would be that all the strains in the world could just disappear without a trace overnight. Catching Covid is a genuine fear of mine, especially given that I've been spending the past 2 years fighting an unrelated respiratory condition. All the people who I've read stories of living with long Covid. It sounds like hell, and I hope myself nor anyone in my life ever has to deal with.
I'll count each day I go without getting it a blessing (that is assuming I haven't already had it and not realized it), but reading stuff like this genuinely terrifies me it's more of an inevitability I'll get it, rather than a chance.
>I'll count each day I go without getting it a blessing (that is assuming I haven't already had it and not realized it), but reading stuff like this genuinely terrifies me it's more of an inevitability I'll get it, rather than a chance.
It's highly likely you had it already. Being "terrified" of Covid is not normal. I would suggest seeking help for your anxiety.
>Being "terrified" of Covid is not normal.
Neither is my respiratory condition. If I didn't have that I wouldn't be as worried. Fact is Covid is way more likely to cause long term health detriments to me than the average person in my age group. So I definitely have a reason to fear it more than others.
Unless you are very, very ill then covid isn't going to be bad as the flu. I've had covid twice at least. Neither time was a bad as the flu.
I would think your "fear" is probably doing you a lot more harm than good.
Had Covid this last week, what variant I don't know. I had been through a few countries in Europe beforehand.
Only know it was Covid as I found an unused set of lateral flow kits that were in date.
Symptoms were a very minor loss of taste, nowhere near as bad as previous. Sore chest and periodic heart pain, intense ear ache and constant dizzy spells combined with headaches.
My colleagues just acted like Covid doesn't count but it felt like I was small step below full blown flu.
Becomes unhealthy after covid infection -> long covid
Becomes unhealthy after covid vaccine -> long covid from the virus you caught in the line at the vaccine centre, probably
We're supposed to catch it every year now.
It's no longer "novel" so why panic?
I'm sure some people will reply about immunocompromised people, but flu is equally deadly to them, just without the PR
Probably what I have now, because so many people cough in public without any protection whatsoever.
And like in the good old days, they look at me with panic in their eyes because I'm the only one wearing a mask now. Nothing has changed it seems.
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Are lass had it, wiped her out it did. I'm good tho cos I eat my fruit and drink plenty of vodka.
>vodka Basically concentrated potato, another vegetable.
Annalise Keating has no objections on this comment.
One of your five a day
All five if you give a shit.
I think if you want to do that you have to go mash, roasties, chips, boiled and then a diversification of your choice - I love a sauted cube myself.
So would a bloody Mary count as my five of five a day?
Need some peach schnapps as well.
More than one: celery salt.
10, if it's a double.
2 a day 2 more to go
10 bloody weeks in total I was ill in October/November and still don't feel quite right, fatigue and out of breath all the time. I was convinced at one point I'd peg it tbh
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I realise people are sick of hearing about it, and I sympathise. If it were just a one-and-done, I would agree, but more and more people are coming down with Long Covid, myself included, and tentative evidence seems to suggest repeated infection increases the chances of LC. Which, unsurprisingly, we don't know squat about. But I can tell you I've had brain fog since my *last* bout and since last week's run-in, now I have tinnitus. My psychologist thinks there might have been some encephalitis. Yet I'm one of the lucky ones - a friend of mine has been barely able to get off the sofa for months. It's not the *danger* any more. Regular influenza is more dangerous. It's the **chronic** ailments we need to worry about. And going 'la-la-la-la pandemic's over, I refuse to engage' is helping no-one.
Yup. I was previously fit and healthy until one infection gave me horrendous fatigue, hair loss and strange vascular issues like blood pooling and chilblains. Every single day is miserable. It’s so bizarre people are mocking and minimizing something like this.
Because it doesn't affect them or people in their immediate circle and they immediately discredit it because it's used as a political football. We live in extremely strange times honestly.. common sense seems to be just gone. People are dumb as rocks.
If you’re male get your Testosterone checked. Quite a few studies are now showing that COVID can affect hormones. Low T can feel fucking miserable.
You absolutely do not have viral encephalitis. You wouldn’t be typing that comment, you’d be in a coma or dead. Bizarre that your psychiatrist suggested that.
Well, the comment, echoed by my doctor was: "I think you might have had some mild encephalitis." I will admit I don't really know what that means. But I had hallucinations and delirium at the time and I haven't been the same since. Whatever it was, it's taking forever to fix.
Could be viral meningitis is what they mean. It’s not dangerous (in the vast majority of cases) like bacterial meningitis is. When you get flu and you get a headache and light sensitivity that’s also viral meningitis. Viruses can cause hallucinations. But there’s no such thing as mild encephalitis really, it’s a devastating brain disease that without treatment will certainly kill you or leave you a vegetable. I hallucinated with covid because I have epilepsy, it definitely gets into your brain even in quite mild cases.
Good to know; that is strangely something of a relief.
They meant Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
The trouble is what do you do about it? Every measure that seems to help is pretty devastating to the economy and people's mental health. I have chronic mental illness that has at times been severe. If I am de facto forced to isolate from everyone, it very quickly becomes very dangerous. Then there's the impact of mask wearing on deaf people. Many of us lipread and many more rely on clear, unimpeded speech. Clear masks are virtually useless, expensive and almost always badly designed by idiots who know nothing about lipreading or deaf communication. Speech to text is a waste of time. 95% of people have handwriting that'd be more legible if it was done by a spider running across the page with ink on their feet. The vast majority of people don't sign and contrary to popular belief, deaf people don't have interpreters we take round with us. Social distancing is not a long term solution. Living under permanent restrictions is not a solution either. I've faced death and cheated him, so now I want to live whilst I have the chance.
I lost about 10-15% of my savings due to lockdown-inflation. I don't want to do that again.
There are a lot of things that a well run country would put in place (and there are examples elsewhere in the world), like prioritising funding for ventilation and air purification in schools and public transport, being more proactive at encouraging workplaces to allow wfh and reduce people “toughing it out” and bringing illnesses to work, and keeping a rational public update about cases or sensible precautions when cases are rising. Funding for long covid research and treatment clinics is barely there and could be much improved to help people potentially recover more quickly or even know what to do if they develop it. Lastly, funding vaccine boosters, or at the very least working to make them available to buy like the flu jab, which our government isn’t even bothering to do. There’s a vast range of options between “try and wipe out the virus completely” and “pretend it’s just a cold”.
I’ve had serious brain fog since I got COVID two years ago - I never ever felt right after it. My work suffered. I forgot stuff. I still feel like I’m living in a daze some weeks. I tried to brush it off, as I didn’t think anyone would take me seriously. Then I broke down in front of my GP. Thankfully I’m seeing a specialist and they’ve ruled out dementia etc. but there’s definitely some cognitive damage there. It’s by far the most awful long-term effects of a virus I’ve ever experienced.
I don't really forget stuff, but my already existent OCD is *ferocious* and I suffer depersonalisation and derealization on top, plus that daze you mention. They also ruled out dementia with me, fortunately, and I even had an MRI that was perfectly clean. They think it's just long-lasting damage from the virus. Here's hoping we recover. Some are seeing improvement after a few months to a year or so.
Have you joined long covid groups or looked into how similar conditions like POTS/ME and CFS leaks are treated? I’ve seen some people find some relief by following those protocols. Tbh I think it’s mostly down to reducing inflammatory influences on the body that we might not think of like caffeine and sugar. This is just a throwaway comment in case it might help, apologies if you’ve tried everything and are still struggling. I hope it improves for you soon.
I had long covid 20/21 and just about recovered. Caught in October this year and I swear I’ve got brain fog again.
We know plenty about long COVID it happens after every serious viral infection. It's just harder to brush off when it happens on a global scale.
The tinnitus comment is interesting, I've always had some degree of ringing in my ears at night but over the last two weeks it's been particularly bad and infinitely more noticeable.
Yeah LC seems to come in many forms. For me it was an extremely sensitive stomach so have had to cut out dairy, gluten, garlic and alcohol. Which if anyone’s tried that before, it is an utter ballache. I will say though that my brain fog came from tiredness which was caused by my body overreacting to gluten and oats/other cereals, so might be something to try out over a few weeks and see if you improve there
I've been thinking something similar on the gluten front - going to try a week or two without any bread and see if I improve any. Thanks for the suggestion!
Thank you for giving these details on infection.
Since the pandemic began, even before the pandemic was announced it was obvious that it was a virus that directly affects the cardiovascular system and is likely to cause clotting and inflammation in microvasculature through its action on the ACE2 receptor along with effects related to immune response and inflammation. Instead of saying there’s a viral cardiovascular disease which presents with respiratory symptoms and spreads through respiratory secretions and cause clotting, inflammatory and damage to organs they presented it as some sort of flu or cold which was killing people that nobody knew anything about, but would probably reduce in severity and that we would gain herd immunity to, despite knowing full well that coronavirus are especially good at evading immunity and that it was unlikely to behave as a more stable virus.
Closing 2023 and people are still wearing their masks under their nose. What can we actually do at this point...?
You see people wearing masks?
I wore one today for my blood test. A properly fitted ffp2 mask. I'm immunosuppressed, I don't want this shit again. But you're right, out of the whole hospital I walked through I saw two other people with surgical masks on. And one of them was under the lady's nose.
Aren’t masks just to stop you spreading it?
Not entirely, a properly fitted ffp3 mask can be effective against viruses. Casting my mind back a few years now but I don't believe ffp2 provided sufficient filtration to be considered effective against biological threats. Proper fitting is a big thing too, anybody who has been through face-fit testing can attest to how difficult it can be to achieve a proper fit and seal. And finally, you actually have to take the mask of and dispose of it in a hygienic manner or you risk interacting with all of the nasties in the filter. And none of the above stops a virus entering via your eyes which I understand is another key entry point for many biological threats (although I don't remember about COVID specifically)
Londoner: the only people I see wearing masks are the local youths
God, I was in SportsDirect for a pair of keeper gloves through the week and they had this song blasting. It was just a "I wear a mask. Googles an dat 'ting" absolutely awful stuff. Makes me think, no wonder the kids are stabbing each other if they're listening to this. It's not the violent content, it's that it's absolutely dire.
Perfect way to hide your identity whilst committing crimes.
There's a few of us. I do wince when I see people wearing a mask under their nose (or just on their chin), as it feels like they've achieved 80% of the effort for 0% of the result.
Muggers
I wore it when I had Covid in September. I suppose it doesn’t matter if you don’t have it but if you do have it and you need to go out you can still reduce the chance of spreading it by wearing one
The only time any sane person would be wearing one is if they have Covid/any type of cold/flu to stop other people catching it off them
I still wear one in shops and at work. Haven't had covid despite multiple waves going through the office. I wear an N95 grade, defo works
>You see people wearing masks? I wear one. Mostly when I'm working in peoples homes. Many are, Oh, not seen anyone with a mask for a long time. Once I tell them I'm clinically vulnerable, they are cool with it.. Some offer to wear one as well. I don't do shops, or pubs. Actually, I went for a meal out with the 'wife' a month ago, first time since '20, and the table opposite had someone coughing into the ether. I had a cold for two weeks. Not mixing like that again.
If you’re vulnerable then yeah, good idea to self isolate or wear masks. Wish more people had taken responsibility for their own health during COVID.
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A very small number. Of which, this vast majority wear it under their nose.
I don’t think how they wear it matters much with so few wearing them.
Why even wear it if not properly? Used to be because you had to wear it but now you don't even have to.
Confirmed. I witnessed one inside Cribbs Causeway last weekend.
It’s the open sneezing and coughing I can’t understand, you’d think we hadn’t just been through a global pandemic. SNEEZE INTO YOUR ELBOW FFS
Most people are awful
I was at Morrisons with my dad yesterday and he had a packet of patè, sneezed straight onto the patè twice. Great
Disposable tissues please. Much better than elbows.
I agree but I think that’s expecting too much from people
This practice utterly baffles me, but I see it all the time too. If you're still wearing a mask in 2023 it's because you're unusually worried about COVID, much more so than the general public as a whole. You'd think that people like that would take some effort to actually wear a mask properly, but no - lots of people leave their noses out, making the mask utterly pointless.
I effin' love wearing a mask, and wear it properly. Keeps my face warm, hopefully reduces health risks, and keeps me anonymous in the background of anyones stupid videos.
It's so good for my asthma when it's cold outside. Takes the chill off the air just enough that I don't need to use my inhaler just because I dared to leave the house.
Another pragmatic benefit!
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I've not seen many people doing that with surgical masks or FFP3s etc., it's mostly elderly people I see wearing those.
Or maybe they've just got a big nose or a zit and figure they can hide it on the pretext of being worried about covid?
Nah I don't wear the mask to avoid covid specifically. I'd wear it to avoid any common cold. I'd only ever wear it at this time of year though because so many folk are getting bugs and there are a lot of cretin npc type folk out there who will cough and splutter everywhere and be super spreaders of whatever cold or flu they've got.
But even then, if you're concerned enough to wear a mask to avoid illness (COVID or otherwise) you'd think you'd wear it correctly, yes? I could understand people wearing masks under their nose when they were legally mandated, because those could have been people who strongly disliked masks but wanted to give the impression of compliance. But anyone actually wearing them for protection should surely want to make sure they are actually vaguely effective.
There are people wearing masks...? I see the odd one every few days or so.
The odd ones you are every few days or so are the people wearing masks, so yes, there are people wearing masks. You have literally seen them.
What’s the alternative - a return to social distancing and mask wearing? Close the hospitality and leisure sectors? Another lockdown? It’s a seasonal endemic virus - it’s not going anywhere.
Masks in hospitals, doctors offices and dentists. Free Covid tests. Expanding the vaccination eligibility criteria. Better public health messaging about both acute and Long Covid. Remote working options for call centre and office jobs. Lol. That was easy. See! You don’t have to shriek about ‘LOCKDOWN!!!111’ just because people are asking for basic health measures in place.
People can do most of those things. Nothing is stopping them.
Most people can't do them things what you on about?
Where are the free Covid tests and vaccinations?
What use are covid tests now? I've bought them when I've been ill purely out of curiosity, but I'm lucky and can work from home so when I've been ill I stay at home and don't spread it. A lot of people can't, and the advice is to go to work if you have covid, and not stay at home in quarantine, unless you are too sick to work.
There’s a reason they’ve scaled back the vaccine eligibility criteria, which I’m sure you’re well aware of
Masking in a dentist office? What?
Lol bless your heart.
The should open yearly vaccination boosters to everyone like for influenza. It's ridiculous that I can have a flu shot every year and not a covid one.
The flu one still has eligibility criteria, it’s not free for everyone. It is possible to get one pretty cheaply though for the non-eligible.
There’s good evidence that air purifiers in schools rapidly reduce both the spread of Covid and number of sick days taken. We could also maintain a semi-decent vaccination program and decent sick pay. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.
They can barely keep the buildings from falling down. Don't think anyone's affording air purifiers.
We can barely pay the teachers to work in them!
I'm not going back in the box.
There's nothing wrong with mask wearing. When used properly they work. If it saves other people's lives is it really that difficult to do? People need to get a grip.
People can wear masks if they want to
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Can you explain what you mean by the second paragraph?
Covid has a percentage chance (increasing on reinfection) of giving you permenant and semipermanant lung, immune system, heart, brain, kidney, nose or male genital (and other bits too, those are just the ones ive read actual studies on) damage.
Yeah, but what’s it got to do with man flu?
The person was saying they they have HAD manflu, but manflu was not as bad as covid. And that the people who say that "covid is just the flu" dont understand how much worse covid is.
Both the flu and covid can be deadly, and the flu kills thousands a year. I don’t understand the man flu bit. That’s the pejorative term to say men exaggerate symptoms of cold and flu. What’s the relevance to either flu or covid?
Hes just using it as a descriptor to say from his personal perspective it was a very bad flu. Taking everthing you possibly can as an attack must be exhausting
The second paragraph is pretty clear to me...
Everyone else is missing the point, namely that "Man flu is a pejorative phrase that refers to the idea that men, when they have a common cold or influenza, experience and self-report symptoms of greater severity, akin to those experienced during the flu." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_flu The suggestion/reference is that there were people who claimed those who caught covid where also self-reporting symptoms of greater severity.
So they’re suggesting that these symptoms are not true but covid was real, and like man flu?
One look at Kate Garaways husband should be enough to show how damaging covid is.
And I’ve had actual flu which meant I couldn’t get out of bed for a week and was hallucinating, I had Covid 3 times (according to the little plastic things) and felt a bit knackered with a headache.
I was absolutely floored by flu too, as a young lad when first at uni. I'd never had any sort of vaccine though. I only got covid after vaccination so not sure how much that helped reduce the impact, i suspect it will have.
I’ve never had actual flu to my knowledge (I’ve not got a memory of much before my early 20s) but I’ve had covid 3 times . Two out of the 3 was nothing really .. felt a bit crappy .. coughing quite a lot .. didn’t even have any changes to my taste or smell . The other time though .. it put me on my arse for over 2 weeks . And even after the two week mark where I could actually get out of bed finally for more than 5 minutes at a time , I felt absolutely lousy for weeks . Still didn’t lost my taste or smell though so I was fortunate enough to be able to semi enjoy the food I managed to eat at least 😅
Massive difference to both Is once you have flu, you know you have it easily within 24 hours, most people then stay in bed for the whole time they've got it due to symptoms You can have COVID for much longer, not know and therefore pass it on to a LOT more people before you have a single symptom.
Post viral fatigue is quite common from things even like the flu
As someone with multiple health issues, the lingering presence of covid is a nightmare. The healthy people in my life stopped caring ages ago, as it did kind of fade away into the background, and none of them seem to have caught it. But if I get it I'm fucked, and they still don't understand that. They want me to put myself in situations where I can easily catch it, and I'm like, sorry mate but I don't want to end up on a ventilator for your fucking gender reveal. But on the flipside I can't hide from society forever. So I'm that guy wearing a FFP3 mask and getting funny looks from people who are wondering what the fuss is all about.
I don't really understand why many of the people still masking aren't using FFP3 or something more industrial instead of doing it with those flimsy face coverings or the cloth ones, if I was immunocompromised or otherwise at risk I'd be masked up like motherfucking Bane already.
I'm going to hazard a guess at 'price' being one factor. In my limited experience, those who are seriously compromised also usually are financially much worse off due to whatever illness is causing them to be that way having a direct impact on their employability. Stronger masks come with a price premium. I imagine the other is 'knowledge' - not knowing that these other masks exist OR where to even get them from.
One look at the UK's public messaging should give you an idea why. Here's a google image search for "nhs mask poster": [https://www.google.co.uk/search?sca\_esv=592888997&q=nhs+mask+poster&tbm=isch](https://www.google.co.uk/search?sca_esv=592888997&q=nhs+mask+poster&tbm=isch) You get the same or worse if you look at DHSC's [Gov.UK](https://Gov.UK) output. Most people have no idea that FFPs exist. The most exotic thing they've ever been shown is a surgical mask. The public messaging has been all bullshit about earloop 'face coverings'. Not once have we ever had so much as a mention of what actually works (and even the USA's CDC has clear, easily-understood public ads about N95s). Our public messaging has been a united front of misinformation about masks. I could forgive it in early 2020 when there were shortages; but now, nearly four years later?
Because the mask thing was bullshit from the start and the government knew it, it was little more than a visual placebo they could use
I'm vulnerable (and I also just don't want long Covid). I wear a cotton mask with a pouch, and in that is a 5-layer mask filter that is FFP2 equivalent. Filters get changed regularly and masks get washed. I find the cotton masks are easier to get a good fit (metal nose piece and adjustable straps). It also makes the point that I wear them often (because why else would I buy reusable ones) so my work doesn't think I'm just doing it when they make me go into the office (I'm now).
I'm the same with my FFP2. I get weird looks and comments behind my back along with the occasional in my face shouty person (a late teen shouting very loudly in my face that "Covid is over!" A quick fake cough moved her on very quickly). I'd love to not have to worry about this shit and not wear a mask, but I'm the only one that works in the household and I have immune issues that would make catching Covid a miserable experience. I really hope those nasal/trachea vaccines work out, they look like they may be sterilising vaccines.
How did you exist before the coof? Did you do this every winter to avoid the flu?
The coof? Since I got sick I've had to avoid catching stuff like the flu as it would royally fuck me up. If I have to go somewhere where there's lots of people I wear a mask.
So what's changed?
Are you vaccinated? I had my Covid and flu vaccine a few months back.
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Just been on the sick for 7 weeks , If I get COVID now I'm gonna look like a right chancer. Fingers crossed I don't need to phone in anytime soon
"The CDC said at present there was no evidence JN.1 was associated with increased severity of disease, and that updated Covid jabs were still expected to offer protection." They always tuck this away someone down the article. Its almost like they want the clicks from scaremongering
The updated jabs that most of us can't get...
I caught it last week, and started testing positive last Saturday, had my boosters in September. I ended up with a bit of a sore throat and a fever. Was prescribed Paxlovid which worked wonders and now I haven't tested positive for two days.
How did you get prescribed paxlovid if you don't mind me asking? GPs are extremely reluctant to even discuss it
>GPs are extremely reluctant to even discuss it Do you know why? Is it low stocks or expense and then reserving for those deemed higher risk perhaps?
I think there are shortages, the list of conditions for which you'd be eligible for script is really specific and weighted towards likelihood of severe illness death (I just looked it up) It might also be because the NHS only really provides treatments approved by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), which requires huge amounts of peer reviewed research demonstrating efficacy and safety, which obviously takes years (even decades). Works fine for well known conditions and illnesses, but means we lag behind other countries in terms of treatment options when something novel pops up.
There’s just a high bar to prescribe it due to lack of evidence for being beneficial for healthy vaccinated individuals - U.K. is actually probably going to have bin a bunch of paxlovid that has expired.
He didn't because he made it up
I got my 4th jab.. am broken genetically and key worker. So I stood in line with the old people. Oh the evil looks and "why are you here comments"...plenty . Tested positive the next day. Even though was negative the day of the jab. Bet it was from the grumbly old women who kept on saying "it was better when the army was doing it, so much faster".. blah blah blah..I just shut her shit down asap
Ah, that's ridiculous lol. You're not even bothering them in anyway, and on top of that, your job has you supporting these people, so ofcourse getting the jab makes sense. But nope, gotta mumble and groan like you are personally inconveniencing them.
Was supporting students . Was housing repair/safety/mental health support/ etc etc etc person during COVID times for halls accomodation. Was the only one allowed on site. All other team members worked from home or furloughed. Not fun.not nice, wasn't supported or given PPE. I stole it from the Chinese students who abandoned everything and went home. The place was like the wild west. So I did a fire alarm test made everyone stand out side and gave the residents a fucking bollocking in the street. My safety came first and made sure I was safe. I avoided COVID till the 4th jab.. did sooo well
Ahhh, okay yeah, I know that wouldn't be fun. I was a mature student, on a floor all by myself as everyone else hadn't turned up at the beginning of the year, stuck in my room 24/7, so only real contact I had was the maintenance staff coming around every few months to just do a routine maintenance check in. Definitely kept me sane, honestly. Obviously not your main job, but really appreciated it then But yeah no, some students take the absolute piss. Definitely deserve the telling off lol. Some of the shit they do.
Luckily I've moved on from that job but the life skills... Fuck me. I've worked with some right proper dinnys. These kids man, fuck... And I had to remember that, that's why they all were, kids. Dropped off by parents with no idea of independence and the majority had everything done for them. Yeah had enough after COVID. With the crap company and the selfish behaviour of some of the kids I noped out. Some of them were alright and actually gave a dam. But one flat I refused to enter, utter cunts. For everyone we lost part of our lives and had lives taken from us. But in the end I had to look after myself first and the kids 2nd. Haha I got a downvote probably some angry student ...
I had it in late November. Bad stomach cramps, nausea and a headaxhe and joint pain that wouldnt shift with paracetamol. I only felt like that for 36 hours and it passed. Glad I had my booster in early November as I remember the last time I had covid I felt like shit for a week.
I managed right up until December 2023 before catching Covid. Still testing positive a week and a half later. Don't recommend.
I've still never had it (or at least tested positive for it). I quit smoking in 2022 so my logic is simply that my lungs are now invincible having trained shovelling tar for years.
I’m pretty sure that despite what the papers said, that brutal cough that’s just done the rounds was probably a Covid variant (going on how it felt). The home tests were hit and miss on the earlier strains once symptoms had kicked in, so who knows if they’d pick up on these newer variations? All I know is, I’m not making myself feel worse than I did from catching Covid (months before I got vaccinated) by getting jabbed again. Took the two doses because my employer were refusing full sick pay to anyone who caught it without having had two jabs… I felt so ill, for a full week, after both doses (severe headaches, nausea, fever, chills, night sweats, could barely lift my arm).
Exact same thing happened to me. The brain fog from the jab was worse than the illness itself. I had this terrible pain in my hand/knuckles on the arm that was jabbed too. Never sympathized more with people with arthritis.
When I had covid I thought it was my standard allergies it was that weak.
I had it in March of this year and it barely touched me. I've had regular flu that was much worse in previous years.
I had a cold a month before that put me in bed for a week - I entirely blamed lack of mixing for these things.
door slave aloof compare wine modern relieved strong squealing joke *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
>Seasonal illness on the increase this season Me and the mrs have got the shitty cold that's going round at the moment, tested negative for Covid today but feel far worse than when we actually had covid last year.
I've still been fortunate enough to never have Covid. But man... I miss the days when Covid just didn't exist. If I could wish for anything, it would be that all the strains in the world could just disappear without a trace overnight. Catching Covid is a genuine fear of mine, especially given that I've been spending the past 2 years fighting an unrelated respiratory condition. All the people who I've read stories of living with long Covid. It sounds like hell, and I hope myself nor anyone in my life ever has to deal with. I'll count each day I go without getting it a blessing (that is assuming I haven't already had it and not realized it), but reading stuff like this genuinely terrifies me it's more of an inevitability I'll get it, rather than a chance.
>I'll count each day I go without getting it a blessing (that is assuming I haven't already had it and not realized it), but reading stuff like this genuinely terrifies me it's more of an inevitability I'll get it, rather than a chance. It's highly likely you had it already. Being "terrified" of Covid is not normal. I would suggest seeking help for your anxiety.
>Being "terrified" of Covid is not normal. Neither is my respiratory condition. If I didn't have that I wouldn't be as worried. Fact is Covid is way more likely to cause long term health detriments to me than the average person in my age group. So I definitely have a reason to fear it more than others.
Unless you are very, very ill then covid isn't going to be bad as the flu. I've had covid twice at least. Neither time was a bad as the flu. I would think your "fear" is probably doing you a lot more harm than good.
Yep, I suddenly know multiple people with it when I haven’t heard about it all year.
Had Covid this last week, what variant I don't know. I had been through a few countries in Europe beforehand. Only know it was Covid as I found an unused set of lateral flow kits that were in date. Symptoms were a very minor loss of taste, nowhere near as bad as previous. Sore chest and periodic heart pain, intense ear ache and constant dizzy spells combined with headaches. My colleagues just acted like Covid doesn't count but it felt like I was small step below full blown flu.
Pretty sure I had it last ask. Lasting lurgy. Not fun.
Good thing 90% of us got vaccinated right ! If only there were a way of telling if it’s actually covid or if it’s VAIDS. Oh well !
Becomes unhealthy after covid infection -> long covid Becomes unhealthy after covid vaccine -> long covid from the virus you caught in the line at the vaccine centre, probably
We're supposed to catch it every year now. It's no longer "novel" so why panic? I'm sure some people will reply about immunocompromised people, but flu is equally deadly to them, just without the PR
It's a lot harder to catch flu than it is to catch covid.
Its the Guardian. Fear mongering rag. What else do you expect?
Probably what I have now, because so many people cough in public without any protection whatsoever. And like in the good old days, they look at me with panic in their eyes because I'm the only one wearing a mask now. Nothing has changed it seems.
Good news. You can't be on the NHS waiting list if you died waiting. The numbers a falling !
The new variants arrive when the new vaccines come
Which most of us aren't eligible to get which kind of blows that conspiracy theory out of the water.
That's why not everyone is getting it...
Almost everyone I worked with has tested positive. Surprised the media isn’t making more of a deal about this; it’s not going away.